Improving gender equality in the workplace

Tim Smedley at People Management suggests that the solution to end gender inequality in the workplace is to send fathers home and mothers out to work. He’s on to something.

The key argument I’d like to highlight is the following: There are three elements which are closely interlinked and that need to be seen as a total in order to drive through social change in our societies. The three elements are put in place by three players:

The government

The corporation

The individual parent

When these players find ways to make up a team, social change takes place.

First, social welfare incentives supporting both fathers and mothers investing time in raising their children is the founding blocks in order to attract both parents to spend time with their children. Such incentives may encourage more fathers and mothers to achieve a better balance between the way they share their time at work and rearing their children. Men are way too often the main bread winners and women tend to sacrifice their career ambitions in order to take care of their kids. Let’s call it default by gender.

So, HR and executives, get out on the field and change the rules of the game, please. That’s where the corporations come into the picture.

Thus, enter HR. How can they change the game?

1. Encourage fathers to take time off work and seize responsibility at home. Yes, that’ll create an outcry. But it’s fascinating how hints and suggestions can gain a large impact when fathers actually start spending time with their kids.

2. Make sure to thrill corporate stake holders’ interest in how the times they are a changing: Corporations must adapt to new social realities, unless they want to see their talented people move to competition who offer more flexible employee relations.

3. Allow flexible hours for talented people: A lot of mothers and fathers want to do a career AND be caring parents. Employees taking responsibility at home have proved to deliver at work as well.

Third, the last player is the individual: Fathers need to realise that they must fight for their right to be full-time dads. Women have fought for access to male-only arenas within all sectors of work during the 20th century. Likewise men must stand up and seize a different part than their historically ‘work only’ part.

A brief look at how much women have struggled to gain influence in the public space, one can imagine the need for a revolution in order to bring men forward.

I’m an optimist, though. Scandinavian countries have managed to bring fathers home and women out working. There are good prospects for a similar change to take place in other parts of Europe.

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One thought on “Improving gender equality in the workplace”

Yeah this generation I can see that happening. It is already happening but not in my dad’s generation. I think it’s great for dads to spend time with the kids. If you look at all those talk shows with problem kids the moms are on the show and where are the dads? So dude spend time with your kids. http://www.zazzle.com/guitarist7